Rating: 
Summary: FOR COMEDY VALUE ONLY
Review: OK, let me get this straight- anti-bush, anti-war flaming liberal "journalist" writes a hack job tale of an "insiders" perspective of an administration he was kicked out of due to his utter lack of understanding of global and domestic economics and this is taken by all the liberal sycophants as a credible critique of Bush? Oh- and the real shocker- "As soon as I took office there was a sense that Saddam was a bad guy and had to go" (im paraphrasing, but thats the gist of what O'Neill told Suskind)- thats the smoking gun about Iraq? Really? I thought Hussein was a GOOD guy and should REMAIN in power!! Stupid me!Vapid, biased and dull. Grow up and get a life.
Rating:
Summary: Must read if you plan to vote
Review: This book gives a view of official Washington that is the equivalent of someone loose in the gym showers with one of those camera/cell phones. O'Neil's memory for details, almost photographic, is the dread of any executive group. Suskind's writing style is engaging and handles the mass of information very well. At times the book almost gets bogged down in its details. But the book is a must read because of its revelations about what the US presidency has become. The novel, Capitol Offense, available on Amazon and at capitoloffense dot com, is nearly a prequel to The Price of Loyalty, with its flighty Texas governor running for president. They both share the 'backstage' view of the government leadership image. Eye-opening and scary.
Rating:
Summary: The Price of Loyalty
Review: I have read the entire book. It is just great. What a refreshing breath of air. I suggest the book to anyone. This is about those that would hide your country from you.Those currently in power will attempt to vilify anyone that has a different point of view. You must beleive exactly as they do about God, Country, and our Democracy. If you do you will not enjoy this book. If you seek new information or a different point of view you will enjoy it. The Taliban only has one point of view as well!! The foundation of this Democracy is the basic right to have different points of view and the freedom to exercise and express
them. Do not be intimadated by those that would take that from you. I also have read "The Shark Tank" at 1stbooks.com. It is excellent as well. It follows the same story line of Mr.Suskinds book. God Bless America and those that love it!!! Again do not be put off!! Thousands of folks have fought and died defending your points of view.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Read on Thinking vs Reacting
Review: This book is a great read and a mind expanding experience. Suskind is a terrific story teller. I already knew about Bush's pre-election plans because before the Iraq war started I'd found and read The Plan For A New American Century. This amazing document is the ideological blueprint the neo-cons [Wolfowitz, Perle, Cheny, Rumsfeld, et al] worked on during the Clinton years which would, once Bush was elected, argue for preemptive, aggressive foreign policy. O'Neil could have saved himself a lot of heartache had he read it before he took the job! And I was a bit surprised that someone as research oriented as he is had not, in fact, done some homework on what his old buddies were doing while he was at Alcoa. That being said, I valued several things about this book. First, it helped me understand "moderate" conservative thinking as counterposed to the present administration's knee-jerk, ideology-based decision making. O'Neill's passion for planning processes which gather input--preferably backed by data--from thoughtful, intelligent people on all sides of an issue or proposed policy spoke to my heart. As a social progressive, I would end up on different sides of most issues from O'Neill after such investigative discussions. But knowing a president engages with curious interest in a deliberative process would make it easier to stomach policies I disagree with. Maybe I'm describing the difference between "conservative" and "Conservative": The former being a style of approaching issues, and the latter a label describing strongly held points of view, often unbudgeable by "conservative" type deliberation. In this sense, O'Neill helped me realize that a central chasm in our country may be less about Liberal or Conservative policies and more about thinking vs reacting from the gut. Another clarification I valued in this book is this: While much is discussed now about whether people favor preemptive war or not, little attention has been paid to how this foreign policy was and remains implicitly designed to retool the economy to favor defense and energy related corporations whose wealth will supposedly trickle down to benefit we average folk, eventually creating jobs in those industries. This was Cheny's goal in constructing the Energy Commission as a private enterprise--to protect its goings on from media investigation: domestic & foreign contract possibililtes, tax breaks to companies which don't need them, etc. Hopefully this book will ignite interest in getting these policy changes out in the open for public evaluation. The most paradigmatic Bush quotes come towards the end of O'Neill's last fiscal policy cabinet meeting, when Rove bulldozes a massive tax cut package for wealthy stockholders. Bush is largely befuddled by O'Neill's efforts to educate him on economy effects of tax-cut options and has spaced into the land of political consequences. Out of nowhere he pops up with, "What are we doing on compassion?" Bush then barks at Rove: "I can figure this out! We did well in the elections because the economy isn't so bad. What are the optics of this? How specific do we need to be on the proposal?".
Rating: 
Summary: Bush and Big Oil
Review: This is still not the big whistleblower's book to reveal the Bush administration's inner workings but O'Neill and Suskind do provide some insight into how this secretive cabal at the White House is in cahoots with Big Business, especially Big Oil. One of the most shocking examples for this are Dick Cheney's closed-door meetings with energy industry bosses in early 2001. They resulted in the seminal National Energy Policy report which recommended that "the President make energy security a priority of our trade and foreign policy", securing access to the world's remaining crude oil supplies. This is precisely what the Bush administration has done, using the war on terror as an excuse to further American oil interests, both in Central Asia and most recently in Iraq. Alas, as I saw first-hand on recent visits to Iraq and Afghanistan, this kind of energy imperialism evokes great resentment, making it easier for terrorist groups to recruit new angry fighters. It is all very well to pursue energy interests but is it worth mortgaging our security to do so?
-- Lutz Kleveman, author of "The New Great Game: Blood and Oil in Central Asia" (www.newgreatgame.com)
Rating:
Summary: Well-Documented Book
Review: This is a great book. The One star reviews mystify me. None of them seem to know who Paul O'Neill was before he joined the administration. Nor do they seem to understand footnotes. In addition, one below (the one that feels free expression is treasonous) seems to think it's phenomenal that Bush stayed president 9/12/01. Was he going to resign? Another one is still glad that he doesn't have to explain oral sex to his kids with Bush. ...history's not going to be kind to these guys. Living in NY, I'd much rather have a president who's going after the real 9/11 culprits, and maybe inhibiting, rather than aiding non-state nuclear proliferation. If I die in a mushroom cloud, I'm definitely gonna be [mad.]
Rating:
Summary: Republican political machine and media outlets outraged!
Review: A must read for any American confused about how the Bush administration says one thing then does the complete opposite. The bashing of Paul O'Neill started immediately. Fox news, Limbaugh, CNBC, MSNBC where all over O'Neill for providing a glimpse of the truth in this book. The initial attempt to discredit O'Neill based on releasing secret documents failed as O'Neill reveals he never looked at the documents the White House handed over to him on CD after he resigned. O'Neill reveals the inner workings of an administration run by Dick Chenny and Karl Rove and an inner circle of far right idealogues. O'Neill, an esteemed retired CEO of ALCOA and former member of the Nixon and Ford administrations, exposes GWB is a friendly face and a mere spokesman for the people truly running the country. As a member of the national security council, O'Neill reveals how the war on Iraq was emminent, and all that was needed was a reason to invade. 9/11 provided that reason (though in reality there is no connection between 9/11 and Iraq as the vice president has said). It is also interesting how the administration publicly refers to tax cuts as for "all Americans". However, based on transcripts the second round of dividend tax cuts where described by the president as being specifically for "the rich". Enjoy this true look into the workings of the administration and look forward to reading the supporting 19,000 documents to be published on the internet. Let the sun shine on our great democracy and give rule back to the people.
Rating:
Summary: True and Consistent with what we know here in DC
Review: This is a must read. Being here in the Nations' Capital we hear so many things that the rest of the Nation misses. This book is true and correct and anyone who believes in a nation of the people by the people and for the people needs to read it. We thought we were electing a moderate and wake up to find we have an administration of idealogues. Christie Whitman's betrayal by Bush et al, the deficit that is growing daily, the plan for war that started in January of 1998. It all is exposed. Great read. Detail and documented beyond question..TRUTH!! for a change
Rating:
Summary: THESE ARE NOT BOOK REVIEWS!
Review: I believe that Amazon.com should remove the reviews by the "readers from" Warren NJ and St Simons Island GA. Neither has read the book, they are merely trashing the author because they don't believe anyone should be allowed to question their political point of view. How is that a book review? The one from NJ defends Bush by stating that, with Bush as president, he does not have to explain fellatio to his 12-year old daughter! What the Hell does that have to do with the accuracy of this book? This book does not go into Clinton's scandal at all. That is also an inappropriate comment.
The reader from Georgia says it is treasonous for Paul O'Neill to criticize Bush and to release documents which back up his criticism. THAT, ALSO, IS NOT A BOOK REVIEW! And it is false, anyone in America can criticize the president, and none of the documents released are top-secret, none of them jeopardize anything but the President's false facade of competence.
I notice that neither reviewer has any substantive criticism of the book, no actual claim that the author lied about anything.
By the way I am a Republican: but government officials such as Paul O'Neill take an oath to the United States Constitution, NOT to any political party. They have as much right to question Bush's conduct as they do Clinton's. Give this book a chance, don't slam it before you read it.
Rating:
Summary: interesting
Review: This book pulls back the curtain and reveals "the Great Oz" at work... only he's not the guy wearing a cowboy hat.
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